(Closed) HELP!! Marriage License/Divorce Decree

Ok, so I am freaking out over my license. Both Fiance and I have been married before and we now need to present a CERTIFIED copy of our divorce decrees. Neither one of us have this!! We have 54 days to go until the wedding, and only 50ish (maybe less) to apply for a marriage license. We can get (I hope!) certified copies from the county courts, but I am afraid it will take too long! FI says to clam down, it wont take long…. Any bees ever been in this situation and if so, did obtaining a certified divorce decree take long??

Wow, are you sure you need to provide copies of your divorce decrees. I thought we were going to have to provide ours, but all we had to provide was our ID and fill out a piece of paper with a few questions about who we are. If I were you, I would call the clerk’s office to find out for sure. Other than that, it should only take a couple of days to get the certified copies, and maybe if you could go in there you could get them right then.

Not sure how long it will take (or how credible ‘ehow’ is) but this link says that PA’s Dept of Vital Records doesn’t issue the certified decrees, you each have to go to your individual PA counties that granted the divorce.

Maybe call them (and the county you’re getting your marriage license from) and see if a fax from one to the other will suffice if you’re in a time crunch.

I’m in Canada, so not sure how helpful this will be… but I got mine within 54 days. I had to email the head Gov’t office in Ottawa to get my registration number since I hadn’t kept a hard copy of the decree… then I took it to the local registrar and ordered a copy of the decree. The whole thing took about 2 weeks in total including mailing time.

I work in the courthouse in Columbus, Ohio. I don’t know for sure how PA is, but typically the courts where you would get a divorce decree and get your marriage license are going to be in the same general vicinity. You should be able to get a certified copy of the divorce decree by walking into the Domestic Court Clerk’s office. You can call them first to see how much they charge that way you are prepared. I know here in this county you can get a certified copy the same day and this is one of the biggest counties in the state.

I agree with your Fiance that you should calm down. I work in marriage licensing here and we send people to the court clerk to get their information and they are able to come right back.

Oh gosh, here in TX, I walked right into the county clerk’s office, requested a certified copy of my decree (I needed another copy for other business), paid about $55 ($1 per page), and walked out with the decree in hand in like, 15 minutes. 🙂

You should be able to go to the courthouse where your divorce papers were filed and get a copy. Just call ahead to check on the fees, and don’t forget your checkbook! I never carry mine by habit and I’m notorious for getting to a government office and not having my checkbook…and most government offices don’t accept credit cards.

I was also able to get a certified copy of my decree by stopping at the clerk of courts in the county where my divorce was finalized. It took them about ten minutes to make me a copy of my decree and certify it. I think it was $1 a page or something like that.

You really should call first, however. Some courts do not accept personal checks or credit cards, so you probably will want to have cash with you.

If you can’t get there during business hours, call them and see if you can arrange to order copies by mail (by prepaying, probably with a bank check or money order) or have a friend or family member who is in the area stop there and get one for you.